The Interior Department decides this summer whether or not it will allow uranium mining near the Grand Canyon. Joining host Daphne Wysham to discuss the pre-Fukushima boom in uranium mining by foreign companies is Lauren Pagel, the policy director of EarthWorks. To express your opinion on the mining for uranium in and around the Grand Canyon, click here.

A ‘honking big global Earth summit’ is coming our way next year, that’s according to Jim Thomas of the ETC Group. Jim says bankers and corporations are already jockeying for position at the upcoming UN Rio+20 Summit. His recent commentary can be found at Grist.org. But also preparing are activists like India’s Vandana Shiva. We’ll hear part of Vandana’s comments on Rio+20 at a UN conference earlier this month. The video from the UN Conference is available.

DuPont is taken to task for potential toxic liabilities that endanger millions of Americans, we’ll get the details from Rick Hind, the legislative director for Greenpeace.

Music in this edition of the show is ‘Lightning over Sonora’ and ‘Procession of the Jaguar’ by Native American musician Robert Tree Cody. Our theme music is “Baladi” by Tony Anka, Bellydance Superstars vol. 2.

"Earthbeat is one of the best informed and most relevant programs to
focus on climate change. Wysham consistently zeroes in on critical (if sometimes under acknowledged) aspects of the climate
crisis. And unlike many other environmental programs, which tend to
ghettoize the climate issue, Earthbeat is the only program I know that
treats this enormous challenge with the thoughtfulness, honesty and
depth it deserves."